I am a
former particle physicist and now an Emeritus Professor of Computer Science.
These days in my retirement life I am taking an interest in Islamic reform, an
interest that led to my book Science
Under Islam – Rise Decline And Revival. I am not a
theologian, nor a HR (Human Rights) expert, but an ordinary mortal, struggling
to understand HR in terms of Islam. I present here my endeavour, my ijtihad, so
that I can benefit from your comments and observations.

This
article forms part of my intended series on the theme, Universal Values Under Islam – An Ijtihad into Quran and Hadith, to
be posted in the blogsite www.univeralvaluesunderislam.blogspot.com. If the
series interests you, please do let me know.

The
content list of this article

§Introduction

§Islamic
Tradition and Modern Needs

§Interpretation
of Divine Truth

§Our
Approach and Methodology

§Application
of Our Methodology

§Conclusion

Introduction

The UN
Universal Declaration of Universal Human Rights proclaims universal rights for
all human beings, supporting: equality of all human beings of all races, creed,
religion and colour, freedom of speech, freedom from want and fear, and equal
rights for men and women. The document (Charter) has 30 clauses. The European
Convention of Human Rights which is now part of the British law is based on
this UN Charter, supporting all aspects of human rights, irrespective of race,
creed, colour and religion.

In
contrast in 1990 the Organisation of the Islamic States produced a Universal
Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, which states: Muslim societies are the best
in the world, and all rights are allowed, subject to Sharia. The document is
larger than the UN document in volume, and is claimed to be based on the Quran
and Sunnah. Given that Sharia is viewed
differently in different countries, each country having its own version of
Sharia, every Muslim country can (and does) claim that it is observing the
Islamic HR, as do Iran and Saudi Arabia. We should remind ourselves that Sharia does
not support democracy, freedom of speech, rule of law, equality of men and
women, equality of faiths, and so on – among many other things that are forbidden in
the UN Charter. Therefore we should conclude
that Islamic HR is not worth much.

Islamic Tradition vs Modern Requirements

A
group of Muslims, including the Prophet’s daughter Rukia and her husband the
future Khalifa Uthman)

temporarily
emigrated to Abyssinia, where they were expected to follow the law of the host country.
Since then the acceptance of the law of
the host country has been the Islamic tradition. Recently Prof Tareq
Ramadan of Oxford declared that British law is his Sharia. So presumably, he
supports the British Human Rights law as well.

So
what is the problem for us the Western Muslims? There is no problem if we want
to be only law-obeyers but not law-makers. If we want to be law-makers as well,
then we need to have common values (in which we believe) for such laws in that
society. If we can demonstrate that the Quran supports such common values, then
our life will be richer and more fulfilling in that society. Therefore it will be a good idea to get
endorsement of HR from the Quran, noting at the same time that the Quran is not
a HR charter, and hence what we can get is only general support for HR, as we
seek here. I start with two scenarios:

Scenario
A: Constitution of Medina

·Multiple
communities, each with its own laws

·Headed
by the Prophet as the arbitrator to resolve inter-community issues

Scenario
B:

·The
Arbitrator is the elected Government (State, strictly its Judicial Arm)

·State
makes laws through a democratic process for a single community of its citizens,
irrespective of their religious and/or other affiliations.

How do
we move from A to B under Islam?

The
formula that worked in the 7th Century Medina needs modification for the UK (or
any other Western Country) with a 21st Century value system. It is essential to
accept that we Muslims in the West do not live in “Darul Harb” (Abode of War), we
live in an integrated society of a projected Darus Salaam [Abode of Peace],
where we all are expected to contribute, as citizens, towards the achievement
of peace, harmony, well-being and prosperity of all, irrespective of their
religious and/or other affiliations in a democratic society. If you, the
reader, do not subscribe to this view then this article is not for you. By the
way, observe that the term Darul Harb does not appear in the Quran, nor in
Hadith.

Theological Sources

To
arrive to Scenario B from Scenario A under Islam, we need to examine the
Islamic sources of law:

·The
Quran

·Sunnah
(Hadiths)

I
ignore the third source ijmah (consensus). The fourth source is ijtihad (personal
endeavour) which I shall be applying here.

There
was no Sharia as such during the time of the Prophet right up to the time of
the Umayyads and early Abbasids. Sharia is largely based on Hadiths. It was
developed roughly between the 10th to the 12th century CE and it fully bloomed
under the Ottomans (14th century CE onward).

Hadith
writing was forbidden by the Prophet and Khalifa Umar even punished Abu Huraira
for spreading Hadiths. But the same Abu Huraira was cultivated by the first
Umayyad Khalifa Muawiya for Hadiths
– in fact Hadiths flourished,
with numerous fakes, under the Ummayyads, who needed a justification for their rule. Even though Hadith writing was forbidden by
the Prophet himself, six written collections of Hadiths appeared some 200 years
after his death. Now, how are we to trust them, given the numerous fakes in and
poor checks on authenticity of, these Hadiths in these collections? Even the
Sahih Bukhari, which is believed to be the most authentic collection, is full
of many obviously ridiculous and absurd Hadiths. [See my book “Science Under Islam”, among others, for more
detail] So, whether Hadiths are true or
not, I shall play safe and return to the Quran alone.

Interpretation
of Divine Truth (Deeper Truth, Common Good and Necessity)

The
human understanding of the divine word can never be perfect (that is, always
incomplete) due to the limitation of our imperfect human language, our limited mental
capacity, and our specific social and cultural context. This is why we say: the Quran is a Dynamic Text, that
unveils new insights with the passage of time and with reasoning. So how do we
interpret it correctly for our time for the derivation of deeper (greater,
higher) truth (or values)? Consider the
Quranic ayahs [55:5/6]:

The sun
and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed;
And the herbs and the trees - both (alike) bow in adoration.

These
verses conjure up at the literal level an image of everything physically
prostrating before God, while at an abstract level these can be used to deduce
a deeper truth of universal laws, as interpreted by Al-Kindi (d 870 CE). Following
this thought of abstraction, we shall develop the concepts of Common Good and
Necessity

The
Quran is full of verses commanding us, humans, to look after our parents, old
people, orphans, the infirm, the needy etc. It (the Quran) repeatedly says that
prayer alone is not enough, you must also do good. Note also that monkhood is
not acceptable in Islam – we must live
in a community and do good.

Thus we
arrive at the concept of Common Good

Next
consider the following verse [16:15] for Necessity

He has
only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and any (food)
over which the name of other than God has been invoked. But if one is forced by
necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits - then God
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [16:

There are similar other verses, e.g, verse [2:173]. In these verses life has a
higher value (or deeper truth) and abstinence from haram food is lower down in
the value scale, and hence haram food can be eaten, where Necessary, to
preserve life, the higher truth. This is
an example of both higher truth and Necessity.

There
was a famine during the rule of Khalifa Umar.
He did not give the Quranic punishment of cutting hands to the thieves,
on ground that they stole to feed their starving families. Thus the lesser
truth of punishment was abandoned for the greater truth alleviating
hunger.

When Iraq
was conquered Khalifa Umar awarded all the conquered lands (war booty) to the
State, without giving any (let alone 4/5ths) to the soldiers, despite the
contrary Quranic verse [08:41]:

And
know that whatever booty that you may acquire (in a war), one-fifth thereof
belongs to God and the Apostle, and the near relatives, the orphans, the needy,
… …".

He did
this on grounds that the soldiers who knew nothing of farming, would destroy
the agricultural land and create a famine. Both these actions he took against
the opposition other Companions, apparently including Ali. Thus Umar placed
higher value to Common Good and greater Necessity, in direct contradiction to
the Quranic injunctions. See my book Science Under Islam for more details.

Finally
Necessity and Common Good are the two instruments (ideas) that are used these
days even by the orthodox (e.g. Saudi Arabia) for areas not covered by Sharia,
areas such as Bio-ethics and Organ transplantation.

Our
Approach and Methodology

Summarising
we have established from the Quran and Muslim tradition, three important
concepts

Deeper (greater/higher) Truth

Common Good

Necessity

We
shall employ these instruments, with logic, to examine some Quranic verses to
explore HR under Islam suitable for a universal society of all faiths
(including atheists) for all the children of Adam in a “Darus Salaam” in the
21st Century. Recall the Quran is a
Dynamic Text that unveils new insights with the passage of time and with
reasoning.

In my investigation
I came across four difficulty levels in the interpretation of the Quran for HR:

Easy, in
which the interpretation was relatively straightforward

Logically Derived,
in which the conclusion was logically derived

Moderately difficult,
in which I had to struggle to interpret

Most difficult,
in which I had to examine a group of verses, some apparently contradictory, and
then to apply over them all the three instruments, as well as logic and context,
to extract a greater truth.

I
shall now give examples from each difficulty level, using only a handful of
verses out of many that are available.

Application
of Our Methodology

Easy Interpretation for
Equality

Mankind
was one single nation [2:213]

O
mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made
you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may
despise (each other)). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is
(the one who is) the most righteous of you. [49:13]

These two verses proclaim the highest HR truth, the
equality of man, irrespective of race and colour, and also declare the best
(the most honoured) person) among us (male or female) to be the one who is most
righteous. So the Quran supports meritocracy, irrespective of race, colour and gender.

Logically Derived
Interpretation

Right
to Life

--- if
any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in
the land - it would be as if he slew the whole mankind: and if any one saved a
life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole mankind. [05:32]

Freedom of Faith

I worship not that which ye worship, nor will
ye worship that which I worship. [109:2-3]

Let
there be no compulsion in religion [2:256]

If it
had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed -- all who are on
earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe?
[10:99]

So it is God’s Will that there are different people with
different faiths (including no faith).

In the verses below, we examine what God in His
kindness does for human beings, and by implication we must also do the same.

Right to the essential necessities of Life

Of the
bounties of thy Lord We bestow freely on all -- These as well as those: The
bounties of thy Lord are not closed (to anyone). [17:20].

Therefore by implication God’s bounties – the
essential necessities of life must not be denied to anyone.

Justice

On no
soul doth God place a burden greater than it can bear. [2:286]

Hence, by implication, it is unjust to burden someone
with tasks beyond his/her capability. There are many other verses on Justice.

Moderately Difficult Interpretation

Do not
marry unbelieving (pagan) women until they believe. [2:221]

How do
we interpret it? I think it is highly contextual of that time of Muslim
existence, which we do not have now. Consider the case of Zeinab (Prophet’s eldest
daughter) and her pagan husband Abul Aa’s, When Zeinab moved to Medina to live
with her father, Abul Aa’s remained a
pagan in Mecca. but still devoted Zeinab, even though the marriage was supposed
to have been broken as he was a pagan. He fought against the Prophet in the
battle of Badr and was captured, which the Prophet did not know at the
beginning. When a piece of jewellery was
brought to him as a ransom from a Meccan prisoner, he immediately recognised it
as that which Khadija gave to Zeinab, and he realised that the prisoner was
Abul Aa’s. The Prophet freed him and allowed him to return to Mecca without any
ransom. After some time, Abul Aa’s, still a pagan, returned to Medina to live
with his wife Zeinab, who then made a declaration in the Prophet’s mosque after
a Jumma prayer that she had given sanctuary to Abul Aa’s and therefore no
Muslim could harm him. The Prophet responded by telling the community present
that he was surprised by this declaration, but it was her right, which must be
honoured by the community. Abul Aa’s
remained a pagan until the fall of Mecca when he entered Islam. Thus Zeinab remained married to Abul Aa’s
even when he was not only a pagan but was also fighting against the Prophet. How do we interpret this situation?

My
interpretation is that the above verse and some similar verses were important
in that time when there was a general existential threat for the Muslims, but
the verse was not applied to Zeinab, as her case did not create any existential
threat. Likewise, this verse, in my opinion, does not apply today, when there
is no existential threat for the Muslims, and when the cultivation of Common
Good and Necessity requires that such marriages be allowed. In defence of this conclusion, I should also
cite the example of Khalifa Umar’s relaxation of the Quranic verse on
war-booty.

Most Difficult Interpretation

Men are
the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more
(strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. … As
to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them
(first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly);
[04:34]

It
says men are the protector, because they are stronger, and the financial
supporter, but today the physical strength is less important and women can earn
more. But the right to beat, even if lightly, is very problematic. We must
ponder on this verse. We examine more verses on gender.

And to every soul will be
paid in full (the fruit) of its Deeds; and (God) knoweth best all that they do.
[39:70]

For Muslim men and women
-- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, … … and for men and
women who engage much in God's praise --
for them has God prepared forgiveness and great reward. [33:35] ***There many such verses in the Quran.

The Believers, men and
women, are protectors one of another. [9:71].

The only conclusion I can arrive at is that in God’s
eyes man and woman are equal, but not in that early society. God even declares
women as the protector of men.

Conclusion

I have
taken the ideas of Common Good, Necessity, and Deeper Truth from the Quran and
Muslim practices (including that of Khalifa Umar) and applied them with logic
to explore the support for HR from the Quran itself. I discovered so far four
difficulty levels in interpretations: (I) Easy, (ii) Logically derived, (iii)
Moderately difficult and (iv) Most difficult. In the last case (i.e. the Most
difficult case), it is important to explore a group of related verses, some
apparently contradictory, to perceive the greater truth.

I have
presented only some of the verses of those that I have examined, but there are
many more verses that one can study for the support of HR. Finally, I am pleased that I did this
exercise. I would like to benefit from your comments.

Blog Archive

About Me

Born in Bangladesh in 1938, Prof S. M. Deen got his PhD in 1965 from Imperial College (London) in Particle Physics, the area into which he researched for a number of years, before moving into Computer Science in 1970. He is at present Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the University of Keele, England. He is the first person in the UK and second in the world to write a book on Computer Databases – a book that had been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Dutch, Italian and Spanish. He has published over 100 substantial research papers and written many books on Computer Science. He also has founded two charities, one for PhD students from developing countries at Keele and the other for a school in Bangladesh. He comes from a sufi Sayyed family.
The book Science Under Islam is his first work on a religious topic, prompted by his interest in science, his concern at the current Muslim weakness in science, and his desire to see Muslims flourish in science (and technology), as they once did in the past. The success of this book has inspired him to launch a Campaign for More Science Among Muslims [CAMSAM] under his Muslim Reform initiative.